Tag Archives: Food Photography

Asparagus + Red Onion + Pesto Creamy Quesadilla

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This is my new favorite meal.

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My new favorite lunch. It requires very little cooking (I love cooking, but for now, the less heat, the better). It really requires very little work at all.

And this quesadilla tastes special. It’s like I’m eating something from an exciting, new restaurant. I can’t explain it, it just feels special.

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Even though I was a bit afraid to, I made this for Greg two nights ago. You see, he is not the biggest fan of cream cheese, sour cream and “other white stuff like that.”

I love cream cheese on a bagel, him not so much. A dollop of sour cream on a fajita? I love it, but not him. When I thought of this quesadilla using cream cheese, I knew I would love it. But I was worried about him.

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I decided to give it a try anyway. I didn’t tell him what was in it. I told him to try one bite — if he didn’t like it, I would make him another one, differently.

I watched nervously, as he took that first bite.

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He loved it! I could barely believe it.

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And then. “Is that sour cream?”

Great..I was hoping he wasn’t going to ask. I should have known better.

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“No,” I said.

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“What is it?” he asked.

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My first response? “I don’t want to tell you!”

But, after a few tries with that answer, and his plea of “C’mon tell me, I said that I like it!” I gave in and told the truth.

I put cream cheese in his quesadilla.

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Luckily, it turned out well for both of us. I get to make quesadillas with cream cheese, and we both like eating them.

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It does sound like cream cheese in a quesadilla could be overwhelming. But, it is the only cheese I put in this one. It actually feels light compared to other cheese-packed quesadillas you can get at restaurants.

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The flavor of this is unbelievable. Crispy asparagus and red onion + the creamy cheese + the flavor punch from the pesto = a tasty combination that will leave you wanting more.

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And, I used my cast iron skillet to make these — it was perfect!

Ingredients
*This is what I used to make one quesadilla. It can be very easily doubled, tripled, etc.
1 soft tortilla
5 asparagus stalks
1/4 of a medium red onion
8 chive sprigs
1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons of pesto
Olive oil

Chop the asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Thinly slice the onion. In a pan over medium-high heat, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the asparagus, give it a good toss, and cook the veggies for another 5 minutes. While cooking, the pan should be very hot. This way, the veggies get crisp and cook quickly. Once the veggies are done, set them aside.

Place a skillet over medium heat (I used my cast iron and it worked perfectly). Place a tortilla into the hot skillet. Carefully spread the cream cheese on one side of the tortilla. Tear the chives into small pieces and place on top of the cream cheese. Next, spoon the veggies onto the tortilla followed by the pesto.

At this point, your tortilla should be crisp but not burnt. If it is still soft, turn the heat up a bit and let it cook longer. Once done, it should be slightly crispy and crunchy, but able to fold over nicely.

Fold the tortilla in half, making a quesadilla.

Cut in half, and enjoy!

Notes:
– For dinner, I made three of these for Greg and I. I did make them one at a time. Unless you feel confident having several skillets going at once, it is definitely okay to do one at a time.

Corn + Black Bean + Tomato Salad

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I’ve always been the type of person who has no trouble eating winter-y food all throughout the summer.

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How about you?

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You know, like soup in the middle of July. A warm pot pie in August. I’ve always enjoyed warm winter comfort food the entire year.

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Until now.

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Until now, now that I live in an un-air-conditioned apartment.

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I never understood why soup in the summer didn’t appeal to people. But I do now. I now understand why people don’t want to do that.

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Enter, this salad. I thought — what can I make that involves absolutely no heat, but still tastes delicious?

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Salad. Expect more. I’ll be with no air conditioning all summer long.

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By the way, I thought making this salad was a great idea to keep cool. And then, I got hungry for stuffed shells. So I made them. So much for keeping cool.

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If it is as hot where you are as it is in Philly, give this salad a try. It will refresh you. It combines the southwest flavors of corn, black beans, tomatoes and salsa with cool homemade (or store-bought) ranch, over a bed of crisp greens. Yes, a perfect summer meal.

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Ingredients
A bowl full of mixed greens (I didn’t measure, but I used maybe 6 cups?)
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 can of corn, rinsed
2 cups diced tomatoes
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
1/2 cup salsa
Homemade ranch dressing, as much as you please

Start by putting the black beans, corn and diced tomatoes into a bowl. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 of a lime over the veggies and stir.

In a different large bowl, add a few large handfuls of mixed greens (or your favorite type of lettuce). Top with a couple of large spoonfuls of the veggie mixture. Add another layer of lettuce and then more veggies. Spoon the salsa on top and then drizzle ranch dressing over the salad.

Using salad tongs or two spoons, toss the salad very well. This will coat all of the lettuce with the salsa and ranch, making a very nice dressing.

Serve with additional veggies, salsa and ranch, if desired.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato + Sage Hand Pies

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Is it okay to share with you three hand pie recipes in one week?

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I was going to wait until next week to show you this one, but I just couldn’t wait!

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These sweet potato hand pies are just so good!

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To start, they are simple. I used store-bought dough. Homemade would be lovely, but if you’re in a time crunch, store-bought is the way to go. Roast some sweet potatoes. Mash them with goat cheese and sage. Stuff into hand pies. Brush with egg wash. Bake. Four ingredients. It’s that simple.

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Second, they are delicious. Kind of remind me of Thanksgiving. I said the same thing about these. Yes, I love Thanksgiving meal so much that I could be happy eating food that reminds me of it all year long. Or the actual meal itself. I would have no problem at all eating a Thanksgiving meal right now. Anyone else?

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Back on the topic of how delicious these are: the sweet potato + sage combination is one of my favorites. It will never get old. It’s a classic. Just add goat cheese and that classic combination just got even better. Add flaky pie dough? Divine.

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Yes, a mini savory sweet potato pie for your Friday. 🙂

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Ingredients:
*This will make 14 hand pies
2 9-inch round pie crust dough
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 oz. goat cheese
1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
Egg wash — you can either use egg white mixed with water or egg yolk mixed with milk, I tried and liked both
Coarse sea salt, for topping

Start by roasting the sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400*. Peel the skin off and then dice the sweet potatoes. Add the sweet potatoes to a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil and toss well so that they are coated. Place on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until they are very soft. Turn the oven heat down to 350*.

Add the roasted sweet potatoes to a bowl with the goat cheese and chopped fresh sage. Using a potato masher or fork, mash everything together well. The texture should be like mashed potatoes.

Prepare your work surface. Lightly flour a flat counter top and get your rolling pin ready. Roll out the two 9-inch pie crusts. Then, cut the circles for the hand pies. I used a 4-1/2 inch round container and it made five rounds. I then rolled the excess dough back out to get two more rounds. I got seven rounds each time from one 9-inch pie crust. You can use a cookie cutter, cup or container to cut the rounds and the size is up to you. I was very happy with 4-1/2 inches. I wouldn’t want to go to much smaller but bigger would be fine.

Once you have the rounds cut out, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture onto each. Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash along one side of each round. Fold the round in half, making a half circle, or moon shape. Using your fingers, pinch and fold the edges of the half circle. Then use a fork to push down the edges to really seal the hand pie closed. Make two small slits in the top of each hand pie with a knife and then brush the top with egg wash. I then sprinkled the top with coarse sea salt.

Place the hand pies on the baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the hand pies are just slightly browned on top.

Enjoy!

*Notes:
*I had a little bit of the sweet potato filling left over, so the next day I mixed it with some noodles, reserved pasta water and parmesan cheese. Delicious!